Union asks for lesser penalty after TTC fires driver who ran red light

TORONTO – The bus driver who was filmed speeding through a red light and swerving around a pedestrian is “no longer with the TTC” because of the “compelling” evidence, according to the transit commission.

But the union is asking them to be compassionate.

The evidence was a dashcam video shot by a vehicle trailing the TTC bus.

The video shows the bus driving through the intersection of Ionview Road and Eglinton Avenue in the far right lane. The bus doesn’t slow for the red light and has to swerve around a person who attempts to cross the street.

“I thought she was going to die there,” a person in the vehicle can be heard saying in the video.

The driver’s union admits “she made a serious mistake” but is asking for a more “compassionate penalty” than termination.

“We will, however, ask the TTC to consider that in her nearly six months on the job she has not missed a day and has had no other infractions,” Union president Bob Kinnear said in a statement. “This is a single mother with two children who was hired by the TTC because they judged her to be the kind of person who would be dedicated to public service and conscientious about her work.”

Kinnear is asking the TTC to consider a lesser penalty and reassigning her to a non-driving job.

NOTE: This article was modified from it’s original version after the TTC revised it’s statement to say the driver was “no longer with the TTC” rather than “relieved of duty.”